My 20-year-old son has multiple health issues, and learning difficulties. He therefore needs 24/7 care. He lives, term-time, at an outstanding specialist college. He is looked after by a fantastic team of carers, or facilitators, who come from a whole range of different places, including England, South Africa... and, of course, Eastern Europe. Poland is high on that list.

Foreigners for sure bring change. But things, and people, need to be on the move for history to happen. As in many other cases, going into retreat is not an option and won't benefit anybody in the long-run...

David Cameron will today be smarting from the faux pas of making an acutely embarrassing indiscretion under the glance of cameras. Just days before the 2016 anti-corruption summit, the UK Prime Minister will be hosting, he was caught on camera in discussion with the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury, describing two of the countries sending delegates to London as "fantastically corrupt countries".

What is amazing is that these Eastern European states are prepared to let the UK leave the EU over a relatively small amount of money concerning benefits paid to its UK-based citizens. A man from Mars would look at this and think they were mad.Let us hope they do not have cause to regret that action

'Fashion comes from Eastern Europe' - the newest trend that has been picked up by major fashion publications and editors lately. 'Eastern Bloc', 'New Eastern Europe', 'post-Soviet' - these references have been spreading around fashion (and beyond) titles from Vogue to WGSN, to The Guardian, to fashion bloggers like a virus of a cool factor.

We kept our eyes glued to the Central-East European selection (can't blame - this is what we do) and the selection was pretty visually pleasing, with the Czech Republic at the centre of attention. My humble guess was that the first prize for the best Country representation this year will come back to Europe, Central Europe, Czech Republic, and my prediction was correct.

When I started my research of Eastern European fashion industry over three years ago Ukrainian fashion week wasn't 'a thing' but international fashion media were travelling to Moscow and reporting from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia every season. The alternative 'Eastern vibe' was just starting then.

Although one might think that Eastern European fashion is glitter and gold chains (yet another partially correct stereotype) it is so much more than that. It has been almost 25 years since the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, which is enough time to seed and cultivate an independent sense of creativity in fashion.

And from my little terrace, Kipling was so right; East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. Nestled in a far, gentle corner of Eastern Europe, Predeluţ couldn't be much further from the noise and agitation of the West, even if it tried.

When discussing the limits of free movement, the Prime Minister might want to focus less on the benefit-scrounging genes common to all Eastern Europeans. Instead, he could be constructive and empathise with the toll emigration takes on sending countries - skills shortages, social problems, or the €3bn Romania has lost training doctors that end up abroad.

It was November so it was cold; long underwear cold. My hotel was sandwiched between the Danube and the Christmas markets. The mulled wine was the perfect fuel for my exploits. I always condone sampling the national drink of choice when exploring a country (no matter the time of day!)

Polish food is fast becoming the food of the moment, particularly as the shadow of communism has faded to allow a democratic and economically stable Poland to flourish. In fact, it's been 25 years since communism fell and, in that time, Poland has transformed herself almost unrecognisably.

The country may be small, but its art is ambitious, grand, uncompromising - Latvia is home to a thriving contemporary art scene, a closely knit community promoted by events such as Riga's annual Survival Kit festival and the Riga2014 European Capital of Culture programme.

As we crossed the picturesque bridge in Mostar, a young man in a bathing suit was resting on the rails. He waited patiently, as if he had all the time in the world. All that it would take to get him to dive into the waters of the Neretva River 24 meters below was 25 euros, but the tourists walking across the bridge didn't want to donate money to see his feat.

It was a cloudy, spring day and my wife and I were sitting on a bench, waiting for the Regional Historical Museum to open its doors for the day. We were in Vratsa, a small town in northwestern Bulgaria, 2-hour's train journey north of Sofia.

We really didn't know what to expect when we crossed the border into Montenegro, but we would soon learn that this small, southeastern Europe country is home to some of the most stunning natural beauty that we have ever seen.